Hamlet (1964 film)
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| Hamlet (1964 film) | |
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| Directed by | Grigori Kozintsev Iosif Shapiro (co-director) |
| Written by | William Shakespeare Boris Pasternak Grigori Kozintsev |
| Starring | Innokenty Smoktunovsky Mikhail Nazvanov Elze Radzinya Anastasiya Vertinskaya |
| Music by | Dmitri Shostakovich |
| Cinematography | Lenfilm |
| Release date(s) | 1964 |
| Running time | 140 min. |
| Language | Russian |
| IMDb profile | |
Hamlet (Russian: Гамлет) is a 1964 film adaptation in Russian of Shakespeare's Hamlet, based on a translation by Boris Pasternak.
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[edit] Review
The character of Hamlet, a student prince tormented by corrupt authority, was always an important figure to Russian intellectuals. But different from the English emphasis on the character's tragic flaws, Russian portraits are always very socially aware.
After the Russian Revolution Constructivists were reluctant to produce the traditional play and were more interested in adapting it into modern settings. Gordon Craig's production at that time was received coldly. In late 1920s, the Party encouraged young Communists to seek out and challenge enemies of the People within the Soviet political system. Hamlet was then read as a young man bravely fighting the corrupted royals.
1932, Nikolai Akimov, a member of the Russian avant-garde artist group "The Factory of the Eccentric Actor" (FEKS) produced an anarchic version of Hamlet. FEKS' ideas were closely related to Dadaism and Futurism. In this version Hamlet is a shameless fraud who scares people with a fake ghost to gain power. By the late 1920s or early 1930s, the party declared social realism as the party's formal policy of art, and FEKS' eccentric productions became unwelcome.
Kozintsev, a former member of FEKS who once embraced revolutionary ideals whole-heartedly, had changed since his persecution by Stalinists. He became cautious so as not to violate Party doctrine. On the other hand, he was against both English and pre-revolutionary Russian approaches that emphasized the character of Hamlet, and also opposed to the Constructivist idea of adapting Hamlet into modern times. His Hamlet maintains the traditional plot.
Unlike Olivier's Hamlet which has a clearly-shown castle, Kozintsev's castle is never revealed fully and always depicted fragmented. It is dark and closely watched by guards, watchdogs and eavesdroppers. The exterior scenes show worn-out stairs, stone walls and the sea, which symbolise the heavy presence and movement of History. But the influence of Kozintsev's early participation in FEKS could be found in scenes of Ophelia's eccentric dances, or Hamlet enjoying accompanying the traveling mechanics.
His Claudius puts on an almost perfect political mask. Except during the play within the play, his smile never falters, even when Gertrude drinks the poison.
The motives of individuals are irrelevant: Gertrude drinks the poison accidentally, and for his failure to recognize his responsibility to History, Hamlet's revenge loses the kingdom to Fortinbras -- a foreigner.
The film also shows a few shots of ordinary people in ragged clothes, who are like the grave digger: good-hearted and only wishing to live peacefully.
At the end of his life Hamlet does not take his seat, but walks out of the dark palace and sits on stairs facing the sea. The circle is completed, as the film opens with a shot of the sea.
[edit] Cast
- Prince Hamlet - Innokenty Smoktunovsky
- Claudius - Mikhail Nazvanov
- Gertrude - Elze Radzinya.
- Polonius - Yuri Tolubeyev
- Laertes - Stepan Oleksenko
- Ophelia - Anastasiya Vertinskaya
- Horatio - Vladimir Erenberg
- Rosencrantz - Igor Dmitriev
- Guildenstern - Vadim Medvedev
- Fortinbras - A. Krevalid
[edit] Awards
- 1964 Special Jury Prize of Venice Film Festival (Won) - Grigori Kozintsev.
- 1964 Golden Lion of Venice Film Festival (Nominated) - Grigori Kozintsev.
- 1964 Best film on the Wiesbaden Shakespeare Film Festival.
- 1964 On the All-Union Film Festival
- Special Jury Prize for The outstanding realization of the Shakespeare's tragedy and best music - Dmitry Shostakovich.
- Prizes of the Soviet Union of Painters - E. Yeney, S. Virsaladze.
- Prize of the Soviet Union of Cinematographers - Innokenty Smoktunovsky.
- 1965 USSR State Prize (Won) - Grigori Kozintsev, Innokenty Smoktunovsky.
- 1966 BAFTA Award for Best Film (Nominated) - Grigori Kozintsev.
- 1966 BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actor (Nominated) - Innokenty Smoktunovsky.
- 1966 Special Jury Prize of San Sebastian Film Festival (Won) and Prize of the Nation Fedaration of film societies of Spain.
- 1967 Golden Globe for Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film (Nominated).
[edit] Reference
- ^ John Collick, "Grigori Kozintsev's Hamlet and Korol Ler." Shakespeare, Cinema and Society. Manchester, Manchester U.P., 1989.
[edit] External links
- (Russian) Full information
